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The Clean Air Parents’ Network is hosting a Clean Air for Children Question Time in London on 6th February 2019. The event will be held from 6-8.30pm at St Martin In-The-Fields and free tickets can be ordered here. The event is open to parents, carers and those who want to protect young lungs in London. Continue reading →

This tree planting project was part of the Mayor of London’s initiative to plant 80,000 tree saplings throughout London on 1-2 December, in collaboration with The Woodland Trust and The Conservation Volunteers and will contribute to The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy.

65 trees in the small park opposite Brentford Towers on Green Dragon Lane
(12 x Bird Cherry, 12 x Crab Apple, 12 x Hazel, 12 x Rowan, 12 x Grey Willow, 2 x Silver Birch, 2 x Field Maple, 1 x Magnolia Grandiflora)
The huge band of rain forecast to fall on Brentford during our Mayor of London tree planting project had thankfully petered out by 9.30am. Understandably this might have had an impact on potential helpers, however a hardy group of willing volunteers formed, including some from West Drayon, Acton, and beyond, determined to plant some trees on this designated weekend. It seemed that an event in Ealing had been postponed, and they found our listing on the Mayor’s website. Some people also donated the trees they’d won in the tree ballot, so in total we were able to plant 64 of the Mayor’s tree saplings in this location.

Many thanks to Dave and his team from Green Space 360 and Hounslow Council for allowing us to plant the trees here. They had prepared the ground in advance and also brought wood chips to cover the area and help allow the trees to grow. An additional special tree, a Magnolia Grandiflora, had been donated to us by the gardeners at Syon House. We’ve been looking for a home for it for over a year, and it was agreed to plant the tree at the top of the hill, which is wonderful.

Special thanks to the Mayor of Hounslow Councillor Samira Chaudary and Councillor Mel Collins coming along and supporting the project.

39 trees in a nursery at Mercury House, Windmill Road, Brentford
(7 x Bird Cherry, 7 x Crab Apple, 7 x Hazel, 7 x Rowan, 12 x Grey Willow)
At 1pm we arrived at Mercury House, where Lampton 360 had created a special nursery area for the tree saplings. They’ll stay in the nursery and be looked after by Mercury House residents and Grounds Maintenance for about 2 years and then relocated as follows:
– 5 trees at Mercury House
– 10 trees at Clayponds estate
– 5 trees at Brent Lea estate
– 4 trees at Layton Road estate
– 5 trees at Sidney Gardens
– 5 trees at The Mall
– 2+ trees at Haverfield estate near the shop

Lots of enthusiastic volunteers turned up at this event, including some residents of Mercury House, and two budding young gardeners. We took it in turns to plant the trees in rows, heal in the soil around the trees, and position bamboo sticks and protective plastic coverings. We’re grateful to Josef and his team for the preparation involved in making the nursery, and to Theresa and Andrea for giving permission for these trees to be planted on Hounslow Housing land.

Fri 23 November 2018 The Mayor of London is planning to plant 75,000 trees across London on the weekend of 1-2 December – it will be the largest community planting project to date. It’s in collaboration with The Woodland Trust and The Conservation Volunteers and will be a part of The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy. We have ordered two of the community packs of 50, so we have 100 tree saplings arriving in the next week!

We have met with Hounslow Housing, Hounslow Parks & Leisure, and Lampton 360 and they have given us permission to plant these trees on their land.

On Saturday 1 December we’ll be planting these trees and need your help!!!!

From 9.30am we’ll be planting 60 trees at the small playground/park opposite Brentford Towers on Green Dragon Lane. The Mayor of Hounslow will be visiting the planting project at 10.30am.

From 1pm we’ll move to Mercury House on Glenhurst Road where 34 trees will be planted in to a nursery area to help them establish in size. Once the Mercury House trees have grown to a bigger size they’ll be transplanted by Hounslow Housing to the following estates where space has been allocated:
– 5 trees at Mercury House
– 10 trees at Clayponds estate
– 5 trees at Brent Lea estate
– 4 trees at Layton Road estate
– 5 trees at Sidney Gardens
– 5 trees at The Mall
– 1 tree near the shop on Netley Road (tbc)

Please come and help us on Saturday and join in the fun!

[5 of these trees will also be planted on the South Western Railway slope north of Brentford station later in the week].

Tuesday 6 November 2018 We were invited to City Hall for an event which asked how community groups can help the Mayor of London improve London’s air quality. It was a positive meeting and a great way to meet further like-minded groups.

An opportunity arose to ask Sadiq Khan in person whether the speed of the A4 section under the M4 running through the residential part of Brentford could be reduced to 30mph. He made a note of our request and said he was reducing the speed of particular roads to help reduce emissions. Continue reading →

Saturday 21 July 2018 We went along to the London National Park City Fair at Conway Hall, which kicked off a week of events and as a countdown to Spring 2019 when London will become a National Park City, and enjoyed listening to a variety of interesting talks including one from our neighbours in Chiswick Abundance London. Continue reading →

July 2018 It’s been a year in the making for various reasons but our short film Grab a Breath in collaboration with campaign group Doctors Against Diesel is now finished. It features children from the school council at Green Dragon School in Brentford and they did a great job at asking Doctor Norrice Liu questions about air pollution.